Golf Simulator Seeks Dealer Base for $50K Systems

How would you like to broaden your client base and expand your product solutions all while improving your golf swing?

Commercial CE pros - especially those with strong residential businesses - appear to be a good fit for About Golf, which is looking to establish a dealer base for its PGA Tour Indoor Golf Simulators.

About Golf doesn't have much of a dealer network, explains Joe Dowdell. And it's no easy task to change that, he says, because installing indoor golf simulator technology is outside realm of most integrators.

Dowdell envisions the products being installed indoors in high-end homes, golf centers, pro shops, sports bars, golf and sporting goods stores and entertainment facilities like Dave & Buster's. A typical About Golf system price is $49,500, Dowdell says, adding that it also offers a three-projector system for $68,000.

About Golf plans to be fairly picky about its dealers. "The dealer must be able to promote it, market it, sell it and demo it," Dowdell says. "The demo part is the trickiest. Ideally, it means the dealer should have some sort of showroom, but it can also mean a partnership with a nearby golf facility - any place with room for a demonstration.

What's Installed? Potential Add-Ons
Installation-wise, it's not difficult, says Dowdell, who comes from an integration background. "Any integrator worth their salt should be able to do it," he says.

"A basic system includes some kind of CPU, typically a touchscreen, a projector and a tracking system. There are a ton of opportunities for add-ons, depending on where it's going to go. They can integrate a control system. In an indoor golf center they can put in a matrix switcher and switch it all over the place. You can integrate a TV and put the ballgame in the corner while you're playing golf, sound systems, speakers, you name it."

What Sets It Apart?
There are a few golf simulators on the market - Full Swing Golf, The Konstruct and High Definition Golf - but Dowdell points out that About Golf has partnered with the PGA. "We've been with the PGA for a year and a half," he says. "The tour wanted to find a golf simulator to do a licensing agreement with. They looked at everybody in the industry, and when it was all said and done they chose our product."

Dowdell maintains that About Golf's technology makes its simulator extremely authentic. "We use high-speed photography for our tracking technology. For software we use 3D immersive technology. Everything is rendered on the course, so you get to play the whole course. Sometimes you even have to hit the ball backward to get out of trouble, whereas with the competition you always have to hit forward because it's two-dimensional."

The authenticity makes it not only fun but also a great teaching tool, the combination the PGA sought.

"'Playability' is the term I always use," Dowdell says. "Spins are accurate, whether you hit a draw or fade. Chipping and putting is very accurate. You feel like you're really playing golf."